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WASHINGTON (AP) — Targeting stagnant wages in an otherwise improving economy,
President Barack Obama on Monday called on employers, educational institutions and
local governments to develop a home grown high technology workforce that could help
drive up higher-income employment.

The effort aims to attack a stubborn downside of the current economic recovery and
fill what the White House says is a gaping demand for high-tech workers in the United
States.

"We've got to keep positioning ourselves for a constantly changing global economy,"
Obama said in announcing his "TechHire" initiative at a gathering of the National
League of Cities. "If we're not producing enough tech workers, over time that's
going to threaten our leadership in global innovation, which is the bread and butter
of the 21st century economy."

Obama has obtained commitments from more than 300 employers as well as local governments
in 21 regions of the country to train and hire low-skilled workers for jobs in software
development, network administration and cybersecurity.

Under the program, the Obama administration will provide $100 million in competitive
grants to joint initiatives by employers, training institutions and local governments
that target workers who don't have easy access to training. The money comes from
fees companies pay to the government to hire higher-skilled foreign workers under
the H-1B visa program.

"Too many Americans think these jobs are out of their reach, that these jobs are
only in places like Silicon Valley or that they all require an advance degree in
computer science. That's just not the case," said Jeff Zients, director of the White
House National Economic Council.

Among the communities that have pledged to participate are New York City, Louisville,
Detroit, Nashville, San Francisco, and Kansas City, Missouri.

The initiative is designed to prepare U.S. workers for a growing number of technology
jobs. According to the White House, of the 5 million jobs available today, more
than half a million are in those fields.

"The problem is not that Americans aren't qualified to fill tech jobs, as the White
House suggests, but that the H-1B and similar visas are being used in place of hiring
qualified Americans," said Stephen Miller, a spokesman for Republican Sen. Jeff
Sessions of Alabama, the chairman of a Senate subcommittee n immigration. "America
is home to the world's most talented IT workers, but these highly-trained and extremely
talented individuals have seen their careers dashed by unfair guest-worker policies."

Obama's attention to technology comes as the unemployment rate is dropping but wages
remain flat. The unemployment rate in February dropped to 5.5 percent but average
hourly earnings rose just 3 cents from January to $24.78. Raising wages has become
one of the biggest challenges of the current economic recovery.

"These tech jobs pay 50 percent more than the average private sector wage, which
means they are a ticket to the middle class," Obama said.

The administration's plan is for universities and community colleges to provide
training. It is also relying on high-tech educational academies, some of which have
entered arrangements with cities to train workers in a matter of months and help
place them in jobs.

The training academies undergo independent studies to confirm the rate of job placements.

"The world's technology needs are just moving a lot faster than traditional education
solutions. That's the fundamental problem here," said Louisville, Kentucky, Mayor
Greg Fischer, whose city has pledged to expand an existing program with high tech.
"So that's why these non-conventional methods are needed right now."